The next Meeting on Migration Experiences is scheduled for April 29, 2025, starting at 2:30 p.m. The focus will be on “The Role of Frontline Professionals in the Immigrant Integration Process.”

Venue
RoomB324, Building 4 - Iscte

Speaker 
Natalia Curci,  
PhD Student, IGOT, Ulisboa

Commentary 
Ana Couteiro 
AIMA - Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum

Abstract
This presentation will examine how the daily practices of professionals working on the front lines are interconnected with the integration processes of immigrants. Professionals play a crucial role throughout the integration journey, as immigrants often engage in various bureaucratic interactions facilitated by these frontline workers. The governance of migration in Portugal is structured so that both specialized service professionals, such as those from the Local Support Centres for the Integration of Migrants (CLAIM), and employees from other public institutions share the responsibility for the care, guidance, and reception of immigrants. This discussion will explore both contexts, aiming to identify instances of connection and comfort in the interactions between immigrants and professionals. It will also seek to uncover guiding factors and the impacts of these interactions, highlighting how the discretionary power held by professionals can either promote equal opportunities or perpetuate inequalities. This research adopts a local perspective, focusing on two socio-spatial contexts: an urban area (Lisbon) and a rural area (Ferreira do Alentejo). Some preliminary results from this ongoing doctoral research will be presented.

Biography

Natalia Curci holds a degree in Geography from UDESC (Santa Catarina State University) and a Master's degree in Education from UFSC (Federal University of Santa Catarina). She is currently a PhD student in Migration at IGOT-UL. Her main research interests include international migration, migration governance and integration, local policy implementation focusing on frontline professionals ("Street-Level Bureaucrats"), as well as education in migratory contexts. Since 2018, she has been involved in immigrant care and reception projects, gaining professional experience in both Brazil and Portugal.

Ana Couteiro has been working in the area of migration since 2004, having worked as an intercultural mediator at the High Commission for Migration (ACM, I.P.). She has coordinated responses in the area of employability, in particular the Immigrant Entrepreneurship Promotion Project. In this field, she co-authored the manual Capacitar para o empreendedorismo: Guia de apoio à implementação do projeto “Promoção do Empreendedorismo Imigrante”. At ACM, I.P., she also coordinated the National Support Center for the Integration of Migrants in Lisbon, as well as the Support Center for the Integration of Migrants, which managed the National Support Network for the Integration of Migrants (RNAIM), integrating the National Centers and the Local Support Centers for the Integration of Migrants. Currently, at the Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum, she is the Director of the Service for the Promotion of Decent Employment and Social Development and is the manager of the international project Coop4Int - Strengthening Migrant Integration through cooperation between Portugal and Cape Verde. She has a degree in Social Policy from the ISCSP - Instituto Superior de Ciências Sociais e Políticas; a postgraduate degree in Social Administration from the Instituto Superior de Serviço Social - Universidade Lusíada; she completed the 1st year of the master's course in Development, Local Diversities and Global Challenges at Iscte - Instituto Universitário de Lisboa.